Summoning the Reluctant Hearts
by serabrown
Summary: Demacia and Noxus, battled out in the hearts of a beautiful mute and a silent assassin. This is my first fan fiction, please read and review!
1. Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting

Author's Note:

Hi All - This is my first time writing a fanfic. I've recently started playing League of Legends and I've really been enjoying it. I'm not sure if all the facts are correct, but this is for fun.

Disclaimer: All characters so far are property of Riot Games and I'm just borrowing them for this story.

Please review!

**Summoning the Reluctant Hearts**

**Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting**

Sona Buvelle wandered listlessly through the unusually quiet Summoner's Rift. Being early in the day, the grounds were empty with the turrets stilled and the jungle camps abandoned, leaving her blessedly alone with her thoughts.

Although not a Champion, her musical prowess and fame had caught the attention of the Institute of War's recruiting department. They had approached her several times to join, but each time Sona politely demurred. The Institute can be relentless, however, and this latest time they tried another tactic by going directly to the Demacian Council for assistance. The Council had asked her to tour the Institute and report back her concerns.

It wasn't that Sona was averse to joining – it was considered a great honor to be a Champion and represent Demacia. Since her adoption to Demacian life several years ago, Sona had seen many battles and she had to privately admit to herself that it was flattering and thrilling to even be considered. Still, Sona hesitated in giving an assent.

As such, Sona had arrived at the Institute the day before intent on having all angles and possibilities looked into. She committed herself to the tours given by the Institute and had sat through the meetings pitching the perks and benefits of being a Champion. The culmination of the prior day was her introduction to some of the current Champions and Summoners. The Institute had skillfully kept her so occupied that she had not a moment to reflect or consider. All in all, it was a fairly large waste of time.

Determined to understand her hesitations and reservations with accepting while she was still on Institute grounds (and hopefully get better answers), Sona had risen early to do her own tour. Which is what she was doing now - walking around the battle arena to get a greater understanding of what it means to actually be a Champion. Her largest reservation at the moment was the logistics of playing a musical instrument while running into battle. The etwahl, though sturdy, was on the bulky side and to carry it while maneuvering in tight corners? Sona heaved a sigh as she turned aside from the silent turrets to go into the jungle.

_The gall of these people_, he thought to himself as he spied an unfamiliar woman through the jungle. Talon kept himself out of sight in the tall brush, scowling at her as she drifted past the brush he was in. As was his usual, he helped himself to the battle arena to get practice and training in. While the Institute grounds had training areas, he preferred to train in the real thing, the better to hide and ambush. But now, he had an intruder to deal with. He cocked his head as he trailed after her silently. As a Champion, he was used to fans throwing themselves at him. He was used to the candied smiles and suggestive demeanors. But this was going too entirely too far for a fan to invade his privacy and to try to spy on his training.

_A fan that isn't encouraged will soon give up and depart,_ he thought, _so I just need to say out of sight. And maybe scare her along,_he thought with an inward evil smile.

He had studied her from where he hid, moving on silent and practiced feet to avoid detection, to always remain hidden. She was a slight woman, pretty from the glimpse he got of her face, with long pale blue hair which was oddly blonde towards the end. Unusual, he decided.

Talon took pride of his ability to read people, and he decided that she did not have a sinister objective in the jungle. He observed that she was just wandering without aim, which piqued his curiosity about her. It took a dedicated fan to trespass the Institutes of War, but unlike most of his fans, she wasn't partially dressed. Unless she had a surprise for him under her cloak, he thought with a wicked smile.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here" he asked, his voice low and menacing, as he dashed around her in a blur before stopping in a brush nearby. He knew that in this area of the jungle, where noises echo easily, it would be impossible for her to identify where he stood.

Sona froze as a voice cut into her thoughts and movement that she could not identify circled her. She looked around cautiously, uncertainly. A faint frown touched her brow as she glanced to the horizon to note the position of the sun. While the battlefield was often booked for practice skirmishes, she hadn't thought that it would be booked this early. And of course, the Institute would want to keep track of her.

Moving tentatively, she looked around her, trying to peer into the shadows cast by the jungle trees. Was the voice was imagined or real? Although she saw no one, it was not outside the realm of possibility that there was someone there. Being alone in the battlefield while a skirmish played out around her, while exciting, was above and beyond the sort of tour she had in mind. Especially when she was unattended and defenseless without her etwahl.

Sona moved deeper into the jungle, to conceal herself under the shade of a large tree and reached for her schedule. She was fairly sure that her day wasn't supposed to start until 9 in the morning, so the Institute should not be looking for her yet. Sona figured a contrite apology and a performance would smooth things over with the Institute.

Talon narrowed his eyes as she reached into her cloak. A weapon? He hadn't pegged her as anything more than an overzealous fan, but she didn't exactly rub him as a fan either. She was neither extravagantly made up nor was her clothing revealing and seductive. It seemed utilitarian – an assassin, spy, perhaps, or a personal vendetta against him for his crimes before he joined the Institute?

He darted out of his hiding place and gripped her wrist, hard. Instead of a weapon, as he'd expected, she had drawn papers. Sona gasped, both from the sudden pain, and also from the sudden appearance of a man before her. Without waiting for her reaction, he deftly removed the papers from her and glanced over them, keeping his hold on her. Growing up on the streets, Talon wasn't exactly literate. He narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar writing and looked at her with hostility. "What is this?" he asked menacingly.

Sona took the time to study him as he perused her schedule. He was roguishly handsome, tall and built, with silky dark hair if anyone cared to describe him in the simplest terms. If she hadn't been so startled and just a little bit frightened, she would have found him appealing.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? What is this?" He towered over her, staring at her with anger and distrust, squeezing her wrist. Sona grimaced in pain and her mouth opened soundlessly, trying to answer. He stared at her, studying her features, before loosening his grip on her just slightly. She was even prettier up close, beautiful even, he conceded grudgingly. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that she had a marvelous figure, albeit hidden under her cloak, and that her gold eyes were strangely alluring to him. She seemed familiar to him, but he could not pinpoint why.

"Trying to find good hiding places to ambush your favorite champion, are you?" he asked with a bit of a sneer, going back to his original conclusion about her.

Sona gently pulled her wrist out of his grasp and reached into her cloak to retrieve her notebook. Talon grasped her upper arm out of reflex and she gave him a wry look. As if she could outrun and hide from him on her first venture in the battle arena. She opened her notebook to write "My name is Sona", and then looked at him expectantly.

Talon looked at her notebook and looked at her again. "I can't read," he said simply, "and I take it that you can't talk."

Sona nodded her head in agreement to his statement.

"Are you here to spy on me, or other Champions?", he asked curiously, the malice leaving his voice. A wicked grin crossed his face as he continued, "I'm normally against fans spying and stalking, but I can see myself making an exception for you."

Sona shook her head, taken aback by his tone and the sudden flush she felt at his words. She tried to take a step away from him but was stopped by his grip on her arm.

"That's a shame," Talon murmured, taking a step closer to her and looking down into her mesmerizing eyes. "Is there another way for you to communicate? Do you have the ability to speak into my mind?"

_I wish that I could_, Sona thought in response to his question, looking momentarily anguished. Tentatively, she first nodded and then shook her head.

"So you have another way to communicate, but you cannot speak into my mind." Talon grasped the obvious.

Sona nodded again and he unconsciously moved closer yet to her, until she was craning up to look at him. "You'll have to show me sometime, the other way you communicate," he whispered, bending down towards her.

Sona nodded, gazing into his eyes and tentatively touched his cheek. Talon pressed his face into her hand, a grin coming to his lips as he looked at hers. She was so close, and her allure was intoxicating, and Talon got the distinct sense that she wasn't opposed to their close proximity.

A twig snapped from the center lane and she quickly dropped her hand. Talon gave her one last long searing look, practically tasting disappointment, and then disappeared into a nearby brush.

"Sona? Sona, are you here? That Bothell woman is _freaking _out that she cannot find you." Lux's voice rang out.

Blonde and bubbly with a ready smile and joke, Luxanne Crownguard, the youngest daughter of the Crownguard family, was arguably one of the most optimistic people at the Institute.

"Please be here," Talon heard her mutter as he withdrew and left the woman, Sona, alone.

Sona closed her eyes and composed herself. She was flustered and what just occurred was so far from what she could ever imagine at the battle arena. After a moment, Sona hurried from the jungle to intercept Lux.

"Oh there you are! Thank goodness! Bothell is raising a big fuss that they cannot find you and I honestly think she is on the verge of breaking down. You better get back, come with me." Lux grasped the other woman's hand and pulled her from the arena.


	2. Chapter 2: Preconceptions

Author's Note:

Hi All - This is my first time writing a fanfic. I've recently started playing League of Legends and I've really been enjoying it. I'm not sure if all the facts are correct, but this is for fun.

**Also, I really did not like what I had written for the previous version of Chapter 2. I'm just going to ...delete it. And hope no on notices. So let's pretend that didn't really happen, OK?**

Disclaimer: All characters so far are property of Riot Games and I'm just borrowing them for this story.

Please review!

**Summoning the Reluctant Hearts**

**Chapter 2 (again): Preconceptions**

"So there's a new Demacian champion," Katarina announced as she entered the common gathering area shared by the Noxian and Zaun champions. "Some mute girl with no fighting experience." She paused to flip her dark red hair over a shoulder as she glanced around the room to her compatriots. "It's like the Demacians are completely giving up."

Swain and Darius looked up from the map spread between them, some strategy meeting Katarina surmised. "Who is she?" Swain asked while the room silenced to the voice of power.

"A musician," Katarina replied, leaning against a leather chair as she coolly regarded Swain. Although she accepted him in a position of power in Noxus, she was suspicious of him regarding the disappearance of her father. "Goes by Sona Buvelle. Made a name for herself in the recent years playing some strange instrument. I hadn't realized that the Buvelle family was musically inclined." Katarina added.

Talon had been following the conversation between Katarina and Swain with mild interest but hid his surprise as he heard the familiar name. No wonder the woman from the battle arena looked familiar to him. There were always posters and reviews of her performances, even in Noxus, and especially in the other city-states where he carried out his secret tasks and missions.

Swain nodded slowly. "I've heard her perform," he stated thoughtfully, "although I'm surprised that the Institute would consider her abilities to be champion-like."

"Support, probably," Darius added. "So she should be fairly neutral in the grand scheme of things. We should probably make a bid to win her over just in case."

"Bad support, if she has to fight with an instrument." Sion pointed out, "I don't know how hard we'd want to lobby her if she'd be more of a hindrance."

"Easy to counter," Viktor added, "Just break the instrument. Then she has no abilities and will be easy to kill."

"She was recruited by the Institute," Cassiopeia inserted herself to the conversation. "I heard Daisy Bothell complaining about it earlier,"

Daisy Bothell was a stout woman accustomed to getting her own way. Settling into her later years, Daisy enjoyed a great deal of seniority at the Institute and considered it a perk of the job to socialize and meet many famed personages in Runeterra. As head of Institute Recruiting Department, she had a penchant of dropping names into casual conversation, a habit which many found both annoying and amusing. Cassiopeia found it a good way to gather information.

"Apparently she wrung all sorts of concessions from the Institute as part of her conditions for joining. One of them being that her instrument cannot be damaged or stolen," she glanced at Viktor, "and other being that there will be a summoner assigned to levitate her during practices and battles." Cassiopeia glanced at Sion. "So we may have to take her at least somewhat seriously."

"Any other concessions?" Swain asked while the rest of the champions looked either thoughtful or impressed by Sona's foresight.

"Just one more that Daisy cared to share before she huffed off," Cassiopeia replied, reclining and rustling her scales against itself. "She was aggrieved that the Institute could not announce that there's a new champion until the next season because Sona wanted time to train. Apparently the Demacian Council agreed with Sona, so she will not be officially representing the Institute until then."

"So she's not to be fighting with or against us until another two months," Katarina mused thoughtfully.

"Most likely against us," Singed rejoined, "She hailed from Ionia before Demacia."

"So in two months, we will most likely be facing a mute musician support representing Demacia or Ionia whose instrument cannot be damaged or stolen," Darus summarized.

"With no prior battle experience," Katarina added.

"We need to know as much about her as we can," Swain decided. "Learn her abilities and habits. Find any vulnerabilities. She will probably train with the Demacians - House of Buvelle is one of the pillars in the Demacian state. The Demacians and the Ionians will most likely prejudice her against us. We cannot afford another hostile support."

With the exception of Morgana, Taric, Kayle and Zilean, all other support Champions were allied against Noxus and Zaun.

Cassiopeia smirked at Swain as she called out to her allies while they disbanded, "She's supposed to be beautiful fellas, so don't be afraid to seduce her if you need to." she chuckled darkly.

"That doesn't help, Cass," Katarina snapped at her sister.

"I don't see how," Cassiopeia answered innocently, counting on her fingers. "If she's in bed with one of our guys, she'd be too busy or exhausted to train. And we have her trust. And we can probably learn things about her. It's a win-win-win for everyone." Katarina sputtered indignantly while Cassiopeia looked over to Talon. "Would you be up for that? To take one for the team?" she teased with a grin. "It's asking a lot, I know."

Talon opted to scowl at her in response while his heart raced at the idea of having the alluring blue-haired woman in his bed. "Try to be serious," he answered quietly.

"How about I or Kat antagonize her and you comfort her? Be a hero." Cassiopeia suggested, crossing her arms under her chest after moving to the heavy drapes shielding the windows to look out into the Institute grounds. "I'll leave it up to you how you wish to comfort her, but I can recommend a few things if you really need help."

Talon scowled, "Perhaps the two of you can befriend her and read her diary, and not push either her or I into strangers' beds, hmm?" he responded darkly before strolling from the room with an angry twitch of his cloak.

Katarina glanced at Cassiopeia, smirking. "Touchy, isn't he?"

"I'd say he's the _opposite_of touchy," Cassiopeia replied with a pout. "I was trying to help."

"Somehow I doubt that, Cass", Katarina replied as she straightened, heading for the door. "Perhaps I'll see if I can catch up with him."

Sona had moved her personal items to the quarters the Institute had provided to her earlier in the day and she had some time on her hands to get acclimated to living here. It had been about a month since her tour of the grounds and a scant week since she had agreed to join the Institute. _ I better learn what I can in the time I have_, Sona mused as she made her way to the common areas of the Residences.

Although she had seen many battles and rooted for Demacia (and when there was no conflict, Ionia), Sona didn't know all the Champions from all the City-States participating in the Institute. As she was now in their august company, to sustain them in battle or to fight in opposition to them, she should probably know their skills and abilities and what to watch for.

"Don't forget," Xin Zhao caught up to her as she stepped into the open evening sky, "we train tomorrow morning at 8."

Sona nodded at him as he regarded her frostily before turning away. _They'll learn to trust me, I suppose, _Sona thought with an inward flinch as she tilted her head to regard the rising moon.

It was poor timing for Xin to stop Sona at the front steps just as Talon emerged from the common room. Concealing himself in the shadows behind a column, Talon waited as Xin announced her training schedule and depart before trailing after the woman. Accustomed to following targets, Talon had perfected the art of being invisible and unobtrusive.

He followed her into the quiet library and watched, keeping his distance as she wandered down the stacks, her fingers lightly trailing the spines of the books she passed by. Occasionally, she would pull a book from its position and flip through it before putting it back. It wasn't before long that she found what she was looking for and had collected some books.

From where he stood, he could see that her golden eyes were intelligent, although there seemed to be sadness within them. Her lips were also a touch fuller in the middle, giving them an alluring bow shape. She looked altogether irresistible. Talon shook himself mentally, _What am I thinking? Focus. _

He narrowed his eyes at her, torn between wanting her and hating that she was, of all things, a Demacian - the enemy. A Demacian, probably spoiled and accustomed to getting her way, who coasts along on based on connections with little skills other than a pretty face. Talon despised people like her - getting ahead in life based on family name or chance, not hard earned skill and strength. He clenched his fists, glaring at her in sudden anger. _I will not be befuddled by that face._It's safer, logical, better, to treat her like any other enemy - without mercy.

Sona rubbed her nape under the fall of her lustrous blue hair, self consciously brushing her bangs from her eyes. _ Could she actually feel me watching her?_Talon tried to relax his anger, force himself to center his emotions, to be impassive once again as he watched her write her name at the desk and remove the books from the property.

Although outside the gloomy and desolate library, Sona still felt uneasy. Clouds marred the night's sky and muted any light from the sliver of the moon. _ The perfect evening for pensive thoughts,_she thought, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and descending from the stairs of the building to return back. She hugged the books she'd picked up on the Institute and the Champion profiles to her chest and shivered, looking altogether vulnerable to Talon.

_Weakness, disgusting_, he glared, and before he was fully conscious of what he was doing, he appeared by her side in an instant, his hand closing over one of her elbows. "Fair warning, Demacian," he grated into her ear, "Do not cross me."

Sona stiffened, trying to free herself but his grip was like a vise. She turned around and looked at him with those golden eyes that appeared so guileless. _She thinks to use her wiles to handle me? To gentle me?_Talon stared at her with hostility and anger before roughly pushing her away. "The next time we meet on the battle arena, I will be cutting you down." He said, his tone scathing.

To his surprise, she didn't wilt like a flower or cower or weep. Instead, Sona glared back at him, defiant. Although unable to speak, he got the distinct impression that she had choice words for him. He almost laughed. Quelling any fight from her would take no more than effort than holding a cat. After a long minute, where she appraised him silently and coolly, she pushed past him to return to the Residences.

He let her go without comment, watching her retreating form and felt a smirk play at his lips. That was almost... fun.


End file.
